by Ilana Conway, Special for USA TODAY

by Ilana Conway, Special for USA TODAY

Over the past week, the Israeli government has called up more than 75,000 reservists as part of Operation Pillar of Defense. Students, teachers, businessmen are all changing back into their familiar green uniforms â?? and they are doing it with eagerness.

With an increasing number of reservists receiving what is known as "Call Number 8" â?? the call to arms via telephone â?? the consensus among those at home is an impatience to get to Gaza.

"We are all checking Ynet (Israeli news site) all the time â?? everyone just wants to do something to help," Roee Lahav, 26, an engineering student from Haifa.

Not expecting a call because of a shoulder injury, Lahav has to content himself instead by watching the infectious eagerness spread.

"On Facebook, all my friends are talking about how excited they are to be called up â?? we are all united and waiting by the phone," he said.

Roi Ben Daniel, 29, a law student, has already gotten his call.

"Everyone here is in very good spirits â?? we are happy to be here and protect our friends," he said.

"This is when the country needs you â?? not when everything is OK," said Itai Arik, 23, a student and post-college Israel program counselor. "It's like a love-hate relationship. When everything is fine in the relationship, everything is great, but when it's a little bit hard, you need to be there. You need to help because things will not solve themselves."

The desire to want to help restore order is so great in Israel that reservists have been calling their officers to ask to be sent to Gaza, in spite of the fact that it means putting their lives on hold.

"My friend's father has just passed away, and he thought about breaking Shiva (the traditional Jewish seven-day mourning period) to go to the army," Arik said. "He had to wait for the official call-up though, and he's there now."

Some say it can be difficult to see friends and family members leave for service. Arik's younger brother is currently partway through the mandatory three-year military service required of all Israelis. He's eager to be sent to Gaza.

"My mom was so angry when she heard my brother saying 'I'm going to the south' over the weekend," Arik recalled. "But as a soldier, you want to be there, this is your duty, you should be there â?? when I was a soldier, this is exactly what I would have done. (But) it's much harder to see your brother doing it."

It's a sentiment echoed by others.

"My family are worried sick," Daniel said. "Even though they have been involved in past wars, it doesn't relax them when you get that call. You find yourself hiding things from them so that they don't worry."

"It's childish to want to go to war," Kroll said. "My brother and some of my friends are waiting to be called up, and I can tell they are scared. I remember the Second Lebanon War â?? and how tense everything felt back then. Someone from my school class got injured very badly. So even though some believe it is all justified, they are still scared of what will happen."

Speaking from Mitspe Ramon in the south of the country, where she is currently helping to run camps for Sderot-based children in need of relief from the rockets, she added, "Wars have consequences and we need to be more aware of them."

Back in the big cities, taxi drivers give soldiers free rides and old men give up their seats on intercity buses to let uniformed youths sit down. In Israel, the men and women in the Israel Defense Forces are to held in high reverence, for their bravery and nerve.

"I'm sure that as a soldier, and as a human being you are scared but me and most of my friends, and people that I know in the army feel that we should be role models for Israeli citizens," Arik said. "If the citizens see any fear, just think how they would react â?? they would panic. We feel that we should be the example."